bookgazing | Books, Books, Books

I'm currently reading through the Women's Prize for Fiction long list and so far I've read:

Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li - 'A solid debut' is the hackneyed phrase I keep coming back to when I think about this book, and I think that's going to end up being my review. There's nothing wrong with this novel, and it was populated by interesting characters with big, messy human journeys. However, I often found myself wishing the novel spent less time with certain characters, and more time with others (Nan). And while the novel seemed to promise character progression, by the end of the novel many of the characters have returned to old lives, old situations. Promising new shoots have withered, and characters return to old patterns for the sake of stability. Idk, I feel like this reaction might be down to me being used to stories where characters have progressed by the end of the novel whereas, realistically, life isn't always linear. And Nan's story is kind of caught between two 'old patterns' so whatever she chose, unless she'd just walked off into another life, would have, in a way, seen her returning to the familiar. I think, in the end, this book is a good one to chew on because it makes me examine what I expect from stories, and whether disrupting those expectations works for me.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - I have no idea how to write about this book. It's a great, complex book about marriage, race, gender expectations, class and race, and injustice. I'll be really surprised not to see it on the short list.

Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton - I've got mixed feelings about this book because its main stories (about Spring's mother's experience of being a free woman stolen and sold into slavery, and Spring's time as a slave who lives to see freedom) were interesting, but I did not understand the choice to use Spring's son's death bed as a frame for these stories. I felt like this device added so little to the story, as Spring's remembrances could have simply been triggered by the appearance of her sister's ghost, and it was almost distracting waiting to see how that particular narrative strand would pay off only to find that it really... didn't.

Next up in this read through - Circe by Madeline Miller (as a much needed fantasy break) and then probably Ordinary People by Diana Evans.

Otherwise, I finished All the Birds Singing by Evie Wylde which, yes, was so well written, so neatly structured, and so much my jam, but ultimately is undone by its determination to be 'a book about an ultimate secret'. The secret recasts how I felt about the whole of the book, and just ended up leaving me underwhelmed despite the fantastic craft on display here. It's very much a book where I'm going to end up compartmentalising my feelings I think - great writing, great atmosphere, interesting structure, fascinating character, just a really pointless secret and a ton of female literary punishment revealed once you know the secret. Also, I think I am just over the 'there's a deep dark secret you can't learn until the end of this novel' sub-genre of contemporary fiction. I've read quite a lot of contemporary YA, and some adult contemporary novels, built around this kind of revelatory structure, and the secret is almost never that interesting or well designed.

I also read Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams which was fantastic - stars everywhere, highly recommended. Think Bridget Jones but much realer, and divorced from the finale of a redemptive, romantic relationship.

Now that the Hugo Award nominees have been announced I'm going to try to squeeze in some reading for the prize. I'm covered on the Lodestar Award this year as I've read all but one of the nominees. Otherwise...I've got a lot of reading to do. Tbh I really miss fantasy with all the contemporary novels I've picked up recently, so I'm looking for a reason to switch genres.